Hi JK Parents and Friends!

We have had a wonderful week learning about Native Americans and talking about all for which we are thankful!  We have read many books about Thanksgiving and showing others we are thankful.  

Social Studies/Fine Motor:

JK learned about the Native Americans both past and present day.  The children learned about the Mayflower and and that the early settlers came from England for religious freedom.  We compared living back then with modern day and explored stories and videos about what daily life was like.  We learned games played and symbols used by the Native Americans to communicate with their friends.  JK made teepees and decorated them with their favorite symbols.  We categorized different modes of transportation, clothes, food and celebrations by "Long Ago" and "Present Day".  We read April, A Pueblo Storyteller, and learned about the Pueblo way of life and traditions.  

Math & Science/Fine Art:

We learned about whole and halves, and made "Thankful Pies" by writing about all of the things for which we are thankful.  

We played number bingo and "Guess that Number", while practicing number formation.  

JK wrote recipes to make their favortie Thanksgiving dishes, and illustrated recipe books.  I loved hearing their instructions for baking turkey, stuffing, pie, corn, etc.  "Bake at 1000 degrees for 2 days, then use kitchen mittens to get it out and give your brother a little piece, because I can barely pick him up!"  This is why I teach JK!  :). 

Literacy:

We sounded out and wrote about dishes we love to eat at home for the holidays.  We colored and glued fruits and vegetables on cornicopias (we love to say "cornicopia!) and wrote about all of the things for which we are thankful (again).  We practiced writing letter Jj's and read our Jj book along with finding words that begin with Jj.  

We colored pictures illustrating what our Thanksgiving table looks like.  They are hanging outside our classroom for you to see next time you stop by.  

We had an author visit us all via Zoom, sharing her ideas and stories from Dream Street.  

Please practice puttiing on coats with zippers, reaching in to turn sleeves when they are inside out, putting on hats, gloves and snow pants.  We love to build confidence by giving them opportunities to try and succeed, giving them help after they have tried independently.  Be sure you send snow pants even when there is not snow, to keep them dry when the playground is wet even when it's not actively snowy or there's not snow on the ground.  If you send things in their backpacks for class, be sure to send us a note, as many kiddos have after school activities or different places they visit after school they keep clothes in backpacks for, so we don't grab anything without your direction.  Be sure they have seasonal extra clothes at school.  There are lots of shorts still in extra clothing bags.  You can grab those on Fridays when you visit the classroom.  

We are good with tp and paper towel rolls.  Thanks so much!

Have a lovely weekend!

Ms. Massey

 Hi JK Parents and Friends!  

We have been talking about how to show we are thankful.  It's a difficult task even as an adult but sometimes the uninhibited excitement of a child allows us to see their thankfulness easier.  We love hearing what they are thankful for each day when we say our thankful poem, as some days it's different people but all are thankful for their teachers, parents and friends.   We are thankful we get to see their sweet faces at snack time and lunch.  It’s such a treat to catch glimpses of their smiles for those short periods of time. Who thought seeing faces would be so rare but has made us appreciate something so simple.  

Fine Motor:

We loved painting water color handprints this week after Mrs. DiSalle traced our handprints to make turkeys.  We have a Thankful Bulletin Board in the classroom we made with our faces on turkeys!  

JK celebrated Veterans Day by making American flags and learning about what a veteran is.  The children painted “stars” and glued flags together and explored different branches of the military and what each specializes in to protect our country.  

Shawqui leading our Thankful Poem!

JK Bunnies drew their self portraits for November!  They were staring at their faces in the mirror as they replicated their features.  It's so cute to watch.  

Math & Science:

The children learned Push and Pull and different forces we use everyday.  We categoriezed items by push, pull or both.  The vacuum cleaner was one example of a machine we use by pushing and pulling.  Soccer balls we push, and a jump rope we push and pull.  We talked about friction and inertia and how when something is moving another force has to stop it or it continues to move.  

We explored the outside park and collected things for our scavenger hunt, as well as gathering leaves to make leaf animals.  We looked for animal tracks and different signs of animals preparing for winter.  

Literacy:

We are working on the scale of upper and lower case letters and our tripod grip.  We used a hole punch to make confetti while working to strengthen the muscles in our hands.  We are reading through our collection of stories about thankfulness.  We are exploring our collection of Bob Books in some of our reading groups.  

Social Studies:

We are reading books about different families and learning customs and traditions celebrated all over the world this time of year.  The children were surprised to learn that Thanksgiving is an American holiday and isn’t celebrated all over the world.   

Have a lovely weekend!

Ms. Massey